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Shawangunk 
Mountain Stories 




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BY 



WILHELM BENIGNUS 



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"S h a w a n g u n k Mountain Stories" by 

Wilhelm Benign us, 177 E. 78. Street, 

New York City. Preis des Buclies 50 Cents. 

Das hiibsche, niit Naturaufnahnien geschniiickte 

Bach ist in enjilischer Sprac-hegeschrieben. Es f iihrt 

uns in die Felsenwildnis der ,,Shavvangunk Berge'' 

des Staates New York und enhiillt uns infesselnden 

Beschreibungen die herrliche, poetische Naturund die 

wildromantische Srhonheit dieser Bergesgegend, deren 

Seelenstininuingen Benignus mit ganz eigenem Zauber 

zubannen und uns vorzufiihren verstandenhat. 




WILHELM BENIGNUS. 
Shawangunk Mountains, N. Y., 1915. 
At the Foot of the "Jacob's Ladder", near the Nev 
M nnewaska. 



Road to 



Shawan^unk Mountain Stories 




By WILHELM BENIGNUS 

A 'I 



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Copyright. Washington. D. C. 1916. 
by WILHELM BRNIGNUS 



All Rights Reserved 






WITH JOYOUS VOICE SINGS A NIGHTINGALE. 
A Morning Song of the Shawangunks. 



With joyous voice sings a iiif;luiiinale; 

full rich the sounds float away 
and awaken the echoes in glen and dale, 

and she hails the glorious day. 
she hails the day, the glorious day 

and the Queen of the (Jolden Rays. 

A fiddler young hears the joyous sons; 

he lifts his fiddle to play, 
and a stream of rich melody floats along, 

and he hails the glorious day. 
he hails the day, the glorious day 
and the Queen of the (lolden Rays. 



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AUG -8l9l"©ci,A4:i8()(i2 



'I'O THE MAN, I'OK'l' AM) LOVKK OK NAI'l'IM:, 
MR. HENRY W. SHOEMAKER, 
Al'THOi; OF 
Argyle Verse. 1898. (Verse.) Editor of 
Immaterial Verses, 1898. (Verse) 
Random Thoughts, 1899. (Verse) 
Wild Life in Central Pennsylvania, 1903. 
Pennsylvania Mountain Stories, 1907 
Penn&'ylvania Mountain Verses, 1907 
Philosophy of Jake Haiden, 1911. Editor of 
More Pennsylvania Mountain Stories, 1912 
The Indian Steps, 1912 
Tales of the Bald Eagle Mountains, 1912 
Elizabethan Days, 1912. (Verse) 
Su&quehanna Legends, 1913 
Stories of Pennsylvania Animals, 1913 
Stories of Great Pennsylvania Hunters, 1913 
In the Seven Mountains, 1914 
The Pennsylvania Lion, 1914 
Wolf Days in Pennsylvania. 1914 
Black Forest Souvenirs, 1914 
Penn's Grandest Cavern, 1915 
Pennsylvania Deer and Their Horns, 1915 
A Pennsylvania Bison Hunt, 1915 
Juniata Memories, 1915, 
who, as a Historian, Collector and Recorder of Legendi: 
and Folk-lore of Central Pennsylvania, 
in these his Writings, 
has rendered s'o lovingly, charmingly and 
understandingly 
The Sublime Soul and Spirit 
of the 
PENNSYLVANIA MOUNTAINS, 
these 
SHAWANGUNK MOUNTAIN STORIES 
are sincerely and respectfully dedicated by the Author 
New York City, May, 1916. 





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TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



With Joyous Voice Sings a Nightingale. Morn- 
ing Song 2 

To the Man, Poet and Lover of Nature 3 

The Chicadees' Good-Bye 7 to 9 

Ellenville, N. Y., and King Shawangunk's Castle 11 to 15 

The Mountain and the Cloud 17 to 20 

The Spirit Lake 21 

Great "Chief Tecumseh" and his War Horse 

"Fleet Wind" 23 to 25 

The Path to Highpoint 27 to 29 

The Cloudburst at Ellenville, August, 1915 31 to 3G 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Portrait of the Author Frontispiece"^ 

Huckleberry Pickers- at Three Mile Camp 4 "^ 

A Peaceful Summer Day 6 '^ 

"Castle Rock" or "Gate Rock" and Highpoint 10 U 

Nevele Falls, Ellenville, N. Y 16 ' 

"Rickety Spring" Water on the New Road 22 ' 

Highpoint 26 ^ 

My Tent near Beaver Creek SO^' 

The Old Zinc Mine 37 





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THE CHICKADEES' "GOOD-BYE". 

CAMIMXCi three miles ii]) tlie ni(jiint;iiii, near 
r>eaver Creek, in the forenoon of Monday, the 
lOtli of August, 1!>14, 1 A\as sitting at my home-made 
table, amongst the shady trees near my tent, busy 
writing. It was just as cozy a green corner of the 
Shawangunk woods as \-ou could wish to l)e snuggled 
up in on a hot summer day. The air was close, and 
its hot breaths full of wood-scents occasionally swept 
up the valley along the mountain road or welled in 
waves from the gullies and high-wooded swamps 
which slope down from the mountain ridge, called 
"High Point". 

The sky was threatening, and giant clouds reared 
their shining silver heads or stretched out fantastic 
arms to far distances. So I had decided not to go 
picking huckleberries on this day. and, besides, as 
the berries began to he scarce, I had made up my 
mind to take in hand my pilgrim stafif one of the next 
days and strike out for New York City. The huckle- 
berries, the blue, the black, the grey, the silver, the 
flesh-colored and the pearl-colored one^, were begin- 
ning to get very scarce and only swamp-berries were, 
to a certain extent, ripe and ready now in certain local- 
ities to be gathered by the diligent searchers. 

As a forerunner of autumn days, a lonely and earlv 
katydid, the night l)efore, had already tried near m\- 
tent to drum its well-known tune. \Vc]\, it was lime 



SHAWANGUNK MOUNTAIN STORIES. 



to ,Qo soon. Manv j^ickcrs. single and in family s^roups. 
liad left already. 

vSij there I sat and mused and wrote a few lines 
occasionally. In spite of the thunderclouds the sun 
shone strong" and hot. A light hreeze came along, swept 
through the woods and made the leaves of the trees 
and bushes and the tinely feathered high ferns nod and 
whisper in soft unison. .\ big black and blue l)utterfly 
flapped with shimmering wings gracefully around a 
high-stemmed, tenderly red-colored flower a few feet 
from me, rested on the blos.soms and sucked with long, 
flexible tongue sweet nectar from the ever hospitably- 
o])en chalices. Peace was here ; my .-loui looked and 
listened. Silence dreamed its song of meditation, wdien 
all at once it seemed to stir and wake to active life 
with a flutter of wings all around me, and sweet, sing- 
ing voices of little wilderness-sj)irits l)usily gave me 
friendly greetings. A really agreeable interruption 
indeed. As I looked up 1 saw a flock of scime dozens 
of chickadees flying around me, full of curiosity, won- 
dering, perhaps, how 1 came there, and ])ondering over 
my doings. They perched on the In-anches in my neigh- 
borhood with kind and sweet calls of "Chica-dee-ee-ee- 
ee-ee, chica-dee-ee-ee-ee," and a couple of yellow- 
breasts watched me curiously amongst the green leaves 
above, their necks stretched, their little heads bent side- 
ways, listening, and chimed in with a "Ste-ee-ee-ee-ee," 
like the ringing and twinkling of line, clear, pure, little 
siK'er ])ells. v^uch tunes you hear sometimes, when 
\-ou listen to the voices of mountain brooks running- 



SHAWANGUNK MOUNTAIN STORIES. 9 

valley-wards over glistening pebbles. I sat there 
(|uietly without moving. Reph'ing with res])on(hng 
whistling to the birds' notes in their own calls, I re- 
ceived immediate responses with e\er kindlv ■"Chica- 
dee-ee-ee-ees" and silvery "See-ee-ee-ees,'' and the 
dear fellows Hew around me with a soft rush of wings 
only a hand broad away, and some of them perched 
near me at an arm's stretch and sat on the slender 
branches watching me and listening to my whistling 
interestedly, ever replying with their own original calls 
and songs. Without a motion, their wise little heads 
cocked sideways, their little kindly black eyes shining, 
watching, listening, observing, some of the chickadees 
sat there, and all around their quick-silvery compan- 
ions kept up a lively flying, hopping, twittering and 
singing. They were really a crowd of kind and consol- 
ing wood-folks, of cheering fairy-spirits moved by real 
interest, by real friendship. About fifteen minutes this 
kept up. Then 1 rose, and the\- flitted away southward, 
up towards the swamps in the direction of llighp()int, 
going about their business and their own peculiar er- 
rands. But a long while yet could I liear their "Good- 
bye," sounding fainter and fainter, the kindlv and 
cheery and friendly and sweet "Chica-dee-ee-ee-ee-ee !" 
and the "See-ee-ee-ee-ee!" pure like the voice of a 
mountain brook and clear and fine like little, tinkling 
silver bells. 



ELLENVILLE, N. Y., AND 
KING SHAWANGUNK'S CASTLE. 



TWENTY miles west of Kingstoii-on-the-nudsoii, 
and reached from there in an hour's time by the 
"New York. Ontario and Western Raih'oad", the 
mountain town or village of EHenville awaits the visi- 
tors who long, in the good old summer time, for peace, 
rest and the enjoyment of hne and romantic mountain 
scenery. 

Ellenville, in Ulster County, N. Y., is charmingly 
situated in the valley of the Sandburgh T.rook, or 
Creek, which brook, a few miles towards the east, at 
Napanoch, flows into the Rondout, which in turn flows 
into the Hudson River. Ellenville snuggles itself to 
the foot of a high mountain of the range of the "Shaw- 
angunk j\ fountains." which rise quite abruptly to a 
height of two thousand feet above the narrow plain 
upon which the village is built. The "Shawangunk 
Mountains" do not belong to the "Catskills." but are 
the northernmost promontory of the great range of 
the "Alleghenies". Opposite the "Shawangunk 
Range", on the western side of the Sandburg Creek, 
rises and stretches in undulating, softly contoured lines 
the range of the "Catskill Mountains," mostly shim- 
mering dreamily in a blue haze, sometimes, in very 
clear air, showing the peaks like a marvelous chain of 
cut and polished gems and often, at sunset, bathed in a 



12 SHAWANGUNK MOUNTAIN STORIES. 

glory which holds the soul of man in awe and admira- 
tion. 

Tlic valley of tlu' Kondout Creek and ihe Sandhur.i; 
Creek was settled in pre-Revolntionary times, and the 
community of hdlenville is old enough to ha\e accu- 
mulated a store of traditions running hack to the pio- 
neer period, hefore the Indian occupants had l)een 
entirely displaced. Wonderful legends of these times 
are floating about. Among these traditions are many 
relating to the hinding of metals, precious and other- 
wise, in the neighboring mountains. 

Ellenville has many points of interest. So the 
famous Sun-Ray Springs, belonging to the "Sun- Kay 
Company", and the factory buildings of the "Ulster 
County Knife Company". 

Many of the inhabitants of the peaceful mountain 
town are not specially blessed with an overflow of 
earthly riches. So they accept gladly and thankfully 
the liberal hospitality of the ancient Spirit of the 
Alountain, "King Shawangunk". and they swarm like 
busy bees over the tops of the mountains in the months 
of July and August, and gather the fine huckleberries, 
thus making some welcome extra dollars to tide them 
over the hard times. 

The new mountain road, built l!)lf by ]\lr. wSmile\' 
— who himself commenced as an Ellenville boy, and 
now, by his thrift and work, owns the finest and largest 
hotels on the mountain — begins at the old lead or zinc 
mine (now out of use) at the foot of the mountain 
and leads up to its side in winding curves, i)ast boulder- 



SHAWANGUNK MOUNTAIN STORIES. 13 

Strewn, brush-covered, tliickly-woodcd wilderness, 
with occasional views towards the Catskills. Three 
miles up it runs level again. There I'eaver Creek 
crosses the road and flows dnwn the mountain side to 
the valley. There the romantic wilderness of the "Ja- 
cob's Ladder" begins, with its gullies and swamps and 
rock-bastions and its patches of huckleberries. One 
mile farther on is "h^wr-mile Camp", where generally 
about twenty or thirty pickers camp and where John 
Wood, an old and experienced mountaineer, has a little 
hut and buys huckleberries from the pickers. .\ mile 
further on is "Five-mile Camp", where usually about 
one hundred and hfty huckleberry pickers are camping. 
single persons and large families. Fn^n there the 
road leads to Awosting, ]\linnewaska and Xew I'altz, 
to the big mountain lakes: Maratansa, Rinnewater, 
Awosting, or Long I'ond. Minnewaska and Lake Mo- 
honk. Celebrated mountain hotels for summer and 
winter guests are the "W'ildemere Hotel" and the "Cliff 
Hotel" on Minnewaska Lake, and the "Lake Mohonk 
Mountain ITotel" on Lake .Mohonk. .Along the way, 
uj) on the mountain from Three-mile Camp to Five- 
mile Cam]), you can look across the Rondout X'alley 
and have the Catskills si^read before you in l)eautiful 
vistas of glorious peaks, of wooded mountains, brooks 
and lakes. Four nudes across the UKmntain to]) is 
v'^am's Point. 2.-Ui\ feet aljove sea level. .Around there 
are the largest ])icker-cam])s of many hundred ])eople. 

In the summer of the year I'.H I 1 cam])ed at "Three- 
uiile Cauip". near T.eaver Creek. Jf vou look up ju^t 



14 SHAWANGUNK MOUNTAIN STORIES. 

before reaching the creek, you see. to tlie ri^ht, tlic 
rocks looming up hke towering fortresses. 1 , noticed 
high up on tlie rocks a portal-like upriglit giant slab. 
which, when the sun shone tipon it, looked like the 
closed entrance to a mountain castle. I call it the 
"('.ate Rock" or "Castle Rock". This gate I entered, 
llow. 1 cannot tell, l)Ut the reader ma\- fanc\- how. 

Steps of snow-wliite (juartz led u]) the now wide- 
open portal. Old "King Shawangunk", his l)eautiful 
daughter "Alinnewah" at his side, and with him his 
countless retinue of Indian warriors prou(f and n(il)le, 
led by the great chief "Tecumseh", welcomed me cor- 
dially and entertained me ro}-ally. Cood things we 
had, and good talks. Too k)ng would it take ti> write 
of it all. I shall only record here two sayings of the 
chief spirits of the mountain. 

Thus "King Shawangunk" spoke: "The world 
wants to know of the man wdio can do things. It does 
not want to know of him who can explain why he 
cannot do them. * '* ''■'- If they ho])e and believe, 
the deaf shall hear, the blind shall see, the mute shall 
speak. * * * Keep your soul pure as tlie moun- 
tain l:)rook. Be true and fearless. * * * Truth 
and Light are one ; open your ears and you hear them ; 
open your eyes and you see them; guard your ste|)s ; 
speak with the voice of your conscience, and the C.reat 
Spirit is with you." 

Chief "Tecumseh's" words ran thus: "An hxlian 
and a wliite man sat on a log. Tlie Indian pushed 
against the white man and continued pushing till the 



SHAWANGUNK MOUNTAIN STORIES. 



white mail fell off the log. In sui-|)i-ise aiid anger the 
white man asked : "Why (Ud you do this ?' The Indian 
replied: "That is the way you pale-faces i)ushed us off' 
our possessions and stole and kept our lands, h'lrst 
we, in great kindness, gave \ou a piece of land to live 
on, then you wanted more, and we gave you more for 
the sake of peace; hut \'ou were not satisfied and 
wanted still more, and at last you took all we had. 
Thus the pale-face rol)l)etl the red man and made him 
homeless'." 






^^<A< 




NEVELE FALLS, ELLENVILLE. N. Y. 



THE MOUNTAIN AND THE CLOUD. 

A Shawangunk Mountain Story, Dedicated to the 
Memory of an Ellenville Poet. 



By Wilhelm Benignus. 

LII*"]'' is one i;"raii(l soni;". one i^rand poem — a sacred 
li}-inn, a sublime and majestic ode, an impas- 
sioned rhapsody. Nature writes the stanzas and sings 
them to the harp of the winds and waters. In nature 
God is embodied, the Great Spirit. With His voice 
nature speaks and gives most wonderful revelations. 

In solitude you gain knowledge. Rocks, trees. 
plants, animals, yourself. God — all are of one family. 
Each day rises resplendent as a new wonder and freely 
presents to you new riches, and you gather for yovu" 
inner life imperishable treasures. Your spirit mounts 
on the wings of light and your soul chimes jubilantly 
in the rhapsody of creation.^ To this song of nature I 
often listened in camp near Beaver Creek, where my 
tent was pitched in a green wilderness of trees, bushes, 
bracken l)rake ferns, sweet ferns and mountain 
laurels, which just left a big patch of sky visiljle over- 
head. There Ueaver Creek hurried downhill toward 
the v^andburg N'alley in foaming and ])early cascades, 
and the bed the busy waters have burrowed as their 
runwa}' forms a dee]), thickly wooded gully, which is 
called "Witches' Hole." This is the wildest i)art of 
the mountains. A sih'er mine is hidden there, which 



SHAWANGUNK MOUNTAIN STORIES. 



is yet to l)e found. A giant hemlock tree stands there, 
over one InuKh-ed feet higii ; also giant ])itch pines. In 
the hiding ])laces of "Witches" Mole" the wild animal> 
of the woods make their homes: i)()rcu])ines. raccoons, 
\voo(lchuck.s. squirrels, rabbits, foxes and man\- others, 
which ha\'e often been my nigiith- visitors around the 
tent. In the hollow trunks of trees swarms of wild 
bees have their hi\-es. Rattlesnakes and copperhead^ 
are livel_\- ai"ound there, loo. We k'illed se\-eral of them 
near our tents, not far (l(»\\n the roail at I\icket\- Spring 
and on the "jacob'.s I.adder." When the shadows of 
night fall the calls of the whip-])oor-will, that ]iaunt> 
"Witches' Tdole" and has its nest there, rings through 
the woods: "W'hip-poor-will ! \\'liip-])oor-will ! Whip- 
])oor-will!" 

W hen ai'ouud and over my tent the storm roared 
and the \'(jices of the woods and waters, down from 
the "jacol)'s Ladder" and I ligli])oint, and up from the 
deep and wild ravine of "Witches" Hole," joined in a 
mighty chorus, 1 am sure'the spirits of the old Indian 
hunters and warriors who once roamed o\er these 
motmtain wildernesses were awake and alive and 
a-wandering. .Vnd tluMX- came into m\- mind the im- 
nxirtal lines from " h"\angeline"', a tale <>\ Arcadie, of 
the bai-d Henry Walswoi-th Longfellow: 

"This i.s the forest primeval. The nmrniuriiig piues and 

the hemlocks 
bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in 

the twilight, 
stand like Druids of old. with voices sad and prophetic, 
stand like harpers hoar, with beards thit re&'t on their 

bosoms. 



SHAWANGUNK MOUNTAIN STORIES. 



Loud from its rocky caverns, the deep voiced neighboring 

ocean 
speaks, and in accents disconsolate answers the w.^il of 

tlie forest. 
This is the forest primeval; but where are tne iieirts that 

beneath it 
leaped like the roe, when he hears' in the woodland the 

voice of the huntsman?" 

And I thought of a i^oet friend who hvcd in I'dlcn- 
\ille in the lirst decade of tliis twentieth century, and 
there wrote his Ijook of perfect poems, "The Strile of 
IJfe"; of the late pastor of the EUeuville Kvangehcal 
Lutheran Church on Centre Street — Dr. C.otthol 1 
Attgust Xeeff. He died in Utica. X. Y.. and there 
rests with his wife Sophie, who followed him soon. 

If you stand in EHenville on a line summer (hi\ . 
when the wind is high and the white clouds are sailing 
in the sky, and watch the cloud-shadows fleeing up the 
green-billowed mountain sides, you will understand 
what Neeff meant with his poem : 

TO THE CLOUD. 

"O shadow of the cloud, do let me flee high up the mountain 

and its meadows green; 
high up, high up. beyond the dark ravine; 
O let me flee, and let me fly with thee! 

"O silvery cloud, do let me flee with thee and with thine 

shadows' changing tourmaline, 
O let me flee with thee, where thou hast been, 

and spread my wings high o'er the mountain-tree. 

"O let me spre?d my soul, where thou dost flee, 
and dreaming, lose myself in opal air. 

O hast'ning cloud, do let me flee with thee. 

"O let me flee ay swift as thou dost flee, 
that to the cloud my soul be married there, 
O let this restless, dreaming shadow fl,ee!" 



20 SHAWANGUNK MOUNTAIN STORIES. 

Neeff called this poem a "sound poem". His soul is 
married to tlie white cloud now. In realms of ])eace 
he dwells. Ijut even from there his s])irit tights tlie 
hattles for Truth, Riglit and Light. His spirit was 
and is a hatteler-spirit. 

Well, let the sliadows flee and Ijc gone. O glorious 
sun, thou golden goddess of the sk_\', gladden our 
liearts witli tliine rays! Let us ha\-e sunsliine! Tliis 
life is good to live! Really. Let us make it worth 
while to live ! 

This life, I think, is all right, friend, and not so bad indeed. 
There is a thorn to ev'ry rose, but ain't the roses sweet? 
Say, ain't the roses sweet? 



THE SPIRIT LAKE. 

ON "Shawangunk Mountain" is a lake wliere every 
twenty-five years on a certain summer night a 
ghostly procession of spirits can be seen by privileged 
eyes. The full moon sheds its silvery light, strange 
and fantastic shadows weave and waver, the winds 
are hushed and silent, the mirror of the lake is smoi;l'i 
and motionless v^diile the spirits walk around the shim- 
mering waters three times and whisper and sigh aivi 
sing softly. If you listen closely you can hear thent 
sing this 

SONG OF LOST LOVE. 

"True love flows deep as a river flows, but love means 

many a thing! 
It can be compared to a floating rose which the waves to 

the deep sea swing. 

"Love leads you sometimes to sunlit skies where in glory 

redeemed souls dwell; 
it brings you to regions where pain-wrung cries of lost 

souls ring through hell. 

"The dewdrop trembles, a sparkling gem, in the purple 

flower's- chalice, 
and a sunbeam, which from heaven came, drinks it hotly 

— that's love! — with a kiss. 

"But the love that alone will a long time last I compare to 

a crystal lake, 
wherein purest pearls of a happy past their rest at the 

bottom take. 

"And a shimmer deep down from its golden sands meets 

fondly the s'oft moonbeams, 
while with lilies white in their spirit hands on the shore 

walk our wishes and dreams. 

"And their eyes are turned with a sudden start to the treas- 
ures there hidden long, 

and they sing, with sighs that could break your heart, of 
lost love, a sad, sad song." 



TECUMSEH AND FLEET WIND. 



Story of the Great Indian Chief and His War 
Horse. 

A LITTLE over half-way up the path to llighpoini 
— which starts on tlie new road a few hunch-ed 
feet helow Rickety Spring — and when you can see 
Highpoint well ahead of you — strike out to the right, 
towards the west, and you will hnd a pair of white 
giant-rocks standing neighborly together. One of 
them shows the strong, grim, determined features of 
an Indian warrior — tliis is "Great Chief Tecumseh". 
The other rock, southward, has the form of a horse — 
this is the chief's war horse. "Fleet Wind". T.etween 
the two rocks lay some big slabs which look like a 
shield and a tomaliawk. ( )n man_\- a sun-hot summer 
day I ])icked various kinds of huckleberries near these 
rocks, and alwa}'s found plcntw Their different col- 
ors are astonishing and wonderful; some are' coal- 
black, some are dark-blue, some are sky-ldue, others 
])earl-gra_\- or flesh-colored, and each kind has a differ- 
ent and enticingl\- delicious taste, v^onietimes a crowd 
of pickers a])proached noisily and disturbed the soli- 
tude, l)Ut mostly I was alone in tlie peace and poetr\- 
of this Shawangunk wilderness. Annoying were onl\- 
the myriads of bloodtliirsty little llies which a])pearcd 
in these latter years and whicli seem to take a special 
pleasiu"e in bothering \-ou constanth-. The\- seem to 



24 SHAWANGUNK MOUNTAIN STOKIES. 

think your eyes ami ears are tine places to fly into. 

Often I noticed a wild hawk sailinj^- in keen curves in 

the azure sky like the hold spirit oi tlie old warrior 

himself. And the old rattlesnake that li\cs under the 

rocks gave me a sign of its existence hy the unfi>r- 

gettahle pungent odor it emitted in anger and fear 

when it fled from the presence of the intruder of its 

domain. It was as honest in its warning as the old 

chief himself ("Tecumseh" means "rattlesnake") who 

hated the palefaces, hut always fought them honestl}' 

and fairly. There he stands. 

"GREAT CHIEF TECUMSEH", WITH HIS WAR HORSE 
"FLEET WIND". 

Turned into the stone the warrior bold, 

the Great Chief Tecumseh, 
waits for the promised "Age of Gold", 

when wrong no more shall be. 

His mighty shield lays close by him, 

his heavy tomahawk; 
high in the blue, where white clouds swim, 

his s'pirit sails, a hawk. 

Fleet Wind, the war horse, by his side, 
fast like the wind did seem 

Brave deeds and many a fierce fight 
flit through the warrior's dream. 

vStern like the rock the liero stands and dreams, the 

threat Chief Tecumseh. Xo])ly he lived and l)ravely 

he fought and died to free his wronged people from 

the yoke of the i)alefaced rohhers and oppressors, lie 

sleei)s and dreams. Hut one night of the year lie 

wakes to life. This niglit, a late summer niglit, is 

preceded 1)\- a hrodding hot da\- on which lieaxy gray- 

hlack clouds with threatening tluiuder-lu'ads loom np 



SHAWANGUNK MOUNTAIN STORIES. 25 

Suddenly the trees and bushes of the forest raise a 
chorus of sound as a strong wind arises and (h-ivcs tlie 
clouds before him like a shepherd his Hock. With a 
peculiar restlessness these clouds, in solid ranks, roll 
up from the region of the Calskills and from the direc- 
tion of the Alleghenies and from the Hudson River 
country, and, grumbling like angry bears, they shift 
and move in ever-changing shapes around and around 
the Highpoint flats. Occasionally, like a warning, 
heavy raindrops fall. When the pitch-dark night sets 
in the cloud-armies clash together and their masses 
burst asunder amid mighty roars of thunder -and blind- 
ing flashes of blue lightning. Here and there the fiery 
shafts strike big forest trees which sink to the ground 
with a crash, struck to the heart and splintered to 
matchwood. Hell seems loose. The elements wrestle 
tumultously, and the forests, sigh and moan under the 
merciless whippings and lashings of howling tempest 
and hissing rain. The creeks swell over their borders, 
and, bellowing like fiends, they rush and rumble and 
thunder in raging torrents down the mountains. 

Then Great Chief Tecumseh stirs to life, grasps his 
shield and tomahawk, mounts his war horse Fleet 
Wind, and sends out a ringing yell, and his warriors 
assemble around him, strong and brave and fierce, and 
they war in the battle of the clouds and winds, and 
thev hunt over the mountain territory, and their ^lu-ill 
cries wal<e the echoes in forest and glen : 

" Yoohoo-oo-oo-ee-ee-ee ! 
Yoolioo-oo-oo-ee ee-ee! 
Youhee-ee-ee! Ee-ee-ee!" 





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THE PATH TO HIGHPOINT. 



The Story of a Solitary Climb Up the Rocky 
Mountainside. 



THE new road to ^linnewaska, built by Air. Smiley, 
commences where the old zinc mine stands at 
the toot of the mountain. In winding curves the road 
leads up the rock\-, thickl} -wooded mountainside and 
otters, higher U|). beautiful views of the Catskills 
across the valley. .\t three ditlerent places, each 
about a mile distant from the other, cool, clear water 
from the mountain springs refreshes the traveler. The 
last of these drinking places is Rickety Spring, three 
miles up the mountain. The water runs strongly 
through an iron pipe into a trough ; ye)u have to look 
out there for rattlesnakes. About ten mimites farther 
up is Beaver Creek, flowing luider a wooden bridge 
built over the road. The water of this creek is pure 
and good to drink. 

Up this new road about two and thrce-(|uarter miles 
from Ellenville, a sign at the riglit side reads: "To 
llighpoint". From there the path to llighpoint leads 
southward up the mountain. This is an old Indian 
path and is much used by the huckleberry pickers, for 
around llighpoint and the Ice Ca\-e. to which another 
|)ath branches off to the right, are the best berry 
groimds. The distance ivom the new road to llighpoint 
is a little over a mile. 



23 SHAWANGUNK MOUNTAIN STORIES. 

Highpoint is a mountain promontory from which a 
wide view over the surrounding mountain country 
opens. So the government huiU a hut up there, fitted 
it out with a telephone, and put it in charge of a war- 
den, who looks out for forest fires, which happen 
sometimes and rage fiercely. Huckleberry plants want 
space to grow ; their growth is hindered by close-grow- 
ing ferns, trees and bushes, which at the beginning 
of this rocky Highpoint path are especially thick. 
Higher up there are free spaces; the vista opens and 
you see Highpoint ahead. To the right and to the left 
of the path you find wonderful berries, especiall)- 
where fires have left the blackened trunks and stumps 
of pitch-pines. Such ground is called "burned ground" 
and the huckleberries grow there astonishingly fine. 
These berries do not respond to culture ; they are wild 
and love ground which holds much acid. Xot far 
from Highpoint, to the left of the path, you find in the 
hot weather a w-elcome good water to slake your 
thirst at the so-called Mud Spring. I'.eware of rattle- 
snakes there, too ; also farther u]) at the rocks. 

In this blessed solitude of the regions near the path 
I picked berries often, all by myself, and found regular 
fairy spots. There the "hair cap moss", like myriads 
of green stars, grows along the rock crevices. The 
golden sunbeams play around you. God's sunsliinc 
warms your heart, and you see the beauty, the won- 
ders of tliis mountain world as in transfiguration. Tlie 
pure, fresli mountain air caresses you, and tlic licaUhy 
woud-smells please vonr nostrils, and tlie hucklcl)crries 



SHAWANGUNK MOUNTAIN STORIES. 29 

taste luscious. The strength of the towering rocks 
enters your being, and a new will to live and to do i)er- 
vades you and lifts your spirit. 

Enclosed bv the l)ro\vn wilderness these mossy 
berry spots look like fairy grounds transplanted from 
a far wonderland. In these solitudes your soul can 
dive into the deepest seas of meditation and gather and 
bring to light most precious pearls oi thcjuglU and pure 
desire. 

Not even there you are quite so lonesome, for, like 
C(nnrade spirits, the l)lack, white and chestnut-red 
chewinks cheer you up with their call. "Chewink" ! or 
start a short song for you that sounds in words like 
"Chuck-berries-pick-l-will-I-will." 



a: 




"RICKETY SPRING" WATER, 
At the New Road, below Three Mile Camp. 



CLOUDBURST AT ELLENVILLE. 

OUR camping and huckleberry picking on Sluiwan- 
gnnk Mountain in the month of July and August, 
liM.-). was, to condense it in a short word, "wet". It 
rained once stea(hl\' (hu"ing a wliole week. ( )n the 
side of m\' tent toward the new road a brook l)egan t^) 
form; on the other >ide of the tent the water Mowed 
stroiigh-, and in the nnddk' (d' m_\- tent a spring welled 
up. for which I dug a trench so the water could pass 
out through the tent opening. A regular swamp formed 
itself in front, and I carried stones together and i)laced 
them about, so I could step around and do my cooking 
dry footed. Although I did not object to the "Well of 
the Seven Muses'" in my dwelling — it was so altogether 
original and unexpected — yet the water all around and 
all over was a little too much to suit my fancy ; so I 
broke camp and left the mountain the middle of 
August. If I had stayed till the cloudl)urst came, 
August the 22d, my tent would have been swept away 
by the flood rushing down to the valley. Of that time 
I give account as 1 heard it from a picker who stayed 
up there, and as J read it in the newspa])ers. 

Never before had b'llcnville |)assed through such 
an ordeal as the cloudburst and the electric storm of 
that singular August day brought along. Torrential 
rain Hooded towns in two Xew ^'ork cotmties, and 
villages in Sullivan County suffered greatlw The 
cloudburst tore out ])art of the tracks of the .Vew 



SHAWANGUNK MOUNTAIN STORIES. 



York, Ontario and Western Railroad, -destroyed sec- 
tions of the State road and of many mountain roads, 
ripped away bridges and ruined crops, and the electric 
storm started fires and added to the people's terror. 

This is the story of the cloudburst and flood tlial 
visited Ellenvillc. Ulster County. N. Y., on the nieni- 
oraljle day, August the 22^], r.)!-'): 

Mountain streams, already dangerously swollen 
from a week of heav}- rains, broke their l)ounds in the 
afternoon during a heavy cloudburst that deluged i)art> 
of Sullivan and Ulster Counties, sent mud slides thun- 
dering down mountainsides, ripped out railroad tracks, 
broke dams and tore away houses. 

No loss of life was reported, though there were 
many thrilling rescues and a large amount of property 
damage, particularly in rural districts and in villages 
at the foot of the great hills. 

PART OF ELLENVILLE WIPED OUT. 

l^llenville, in Ulster Count}', snuggled in a basin that 
is rimmed about by peaks of the Shawangunk range, 
sufifered most. A section of the village was wiped out 
by the mountain torrent when the dam at the head of 
the reservoir burst. The higher section of the village 
escaped the devastation of the torrent. 

Another dam collapsed at Napanoch, in Lnste." 
County, shutting off the water supply from the Eastern 
Reformatory. 

At Parksville, in v'-^ulliv'an County, the cloudl)ui-st 
did severe damage, ripi)ing out a large section of tiie 
New York, Ontario and Western Railroad tracks. 



SHAWANGUNK MOUNTAIN STORIES. 



The severest electrical storm seen in the Shawaii- 
gunk and Catskill Mountains for years followeil the 
cloudljurst, terrorizing the townsfolk as it flashed and 
flared amid deafening thunder, and setting two (ires at 
Ellen\ille while that village was still panic-stricken at 
the whirling flood tearing at the foundations of houses. 

DAMAGE TO CROPS IS HEAVY. 

No estimate to the damage could he ohtained, Ivlu 
farmers for many miles ahout the villages which were 
the storm centers were reporting severe crop losses up 
to the time, late last evening, when the telephone wires 
hegan to sufifer from the storm and communication 
was interrupted in many directions. 

A curious feature of the deluge at Ellenville .was 
that the rainfall seemed to he mostly upon the tops of 
the mountains about the village. For half an hour 
the rain in seemingly solid sheets volleyed down upon 
the mountains. Sandburg Brook, which flows through 
the heart of the village, was already badly swollen. 
Anxious townspeople gathered along its banks as tor- 
rents came down the mountainsides, where ordinarily 
onlv rivulets trickle into the brook. 

Another flfteen minutes and it became apparent that 
the stout dam whicli holds back the brook from the 
reservoir which supplies Ellenville with drinking 
water was being badly strained. Helpless, the vil- 
lagers gathered at that pn'mt until wiser lieads ordered 
them to higher ground. 



34 SHAWANGUNK MOUNTAIN STORIES. 

WALL OF WATER SWEEPS INTO VILLAGE. 

r.efore all were safely away there was a ripping, 
crushing noise and the crumpled dam was buried l)e- 
neath a wall of water that swept down into the village. 

In a moment the New York. Ontario and Western 
station and yards were islanded in a lake six feet deep. 
Small frame houses in the neighborhood were stoop 
high in the flood, and foundations were being loosened 
on all sides. 

The first driving rush of water tore out five iiundred 
feet of railroad tracks along the Ellenville Branch, 
starting at the railroad station. 

-Ml through the village the Sandburg Brook was 
climbing over its banks. For a few minutes it looked 
as though the whole town would go, and those on the 
higher ground thought only of their own danger. 

Then, as they perceived that the main section of the 
town was safe unless the cloudburst lasted for hours, 
they bethought themselves of those in the houses in 
the lower section about the railroad station. 

CRY FROM HOUSES FOR HELP. 

Half a dozen men launched a boat far up Sandburg 
Creek and worked their way slowly against the terrific 
current liack toward its source, and the liroken dam. 
1 lere and there a man or woman, marooned in a hc»use, 
was crying for help and liolding out imploring arms to 
the slowly moving rescuers. 

One after another four frame houses slipi)ed about 
on their foundations, then were ripped away and 



SHAWANGUNK MOUNTAIN STORIES. 



floated out on the raging stream. From all of them 
the occupants had escaped at the tirst shouted warn- 
ing before the dam burst. 

In the confusion caused by the tearing away of the 
houses, which made a dangerous impediment to the 
progress of the rescue boat, the men in it liad to al)an- 
don their attempts to get at those still in danger. 

rUit the force of the torrent soon lessened and the 
remaining houses seemed safe on their foundations. 

With great peril to themselves the boatmen reached 
two women on the roof of a one-story house. They 
took them into the boat and worked their perilous way 
across the stream to the shore. 

TAKE TWO MEN FROM HOUSETOP. 

Back they came, guiding their craft slowly to two 
men who were on the roof of another shaking dwell- 
ing. 'JMms the flood raged, and for long years it will 
l)e remenil)ered. 

HOW TO REACH ELLENVILLE AND ITS MOUNTAIN, 
"OLD SHAWANGUNK". 

If you start from New York City, the most enjoy- 
able trip can be made by steaming up the Hudson 
River to Kingston l^oint, also called Rondout Landing, 
with any one of the palatial steamers of the Hudson 
River Day Line Company. These steamers run in full 
daylight and offer the best views of the beautiful 
Hudson River scenery. They are in service from 
May 1 till the end of October, making return trips be- 
tween New- York and Albany daily, except Sundays, 



SHAWANGUNK MOUNTAIN STORIES. 



and stopping at Yonkers, West Point; Newburgh. 
Poughkeepsie, Kingston Point, Catskill, Hudson and 
Albany. For information, time-tables, etc., etc., ad- 
dress the Hudson River Day Line Company. Des- 
brosses Street Pier, New York City. 

From Kingston Point, or i^ondout Landing, the 
electric cars take the travelers through the streets of 
Kingston, uphill, and bring him in ten minutes to the 
Kingston terminal of the New York, Ontario and 
Western Railway, where trains leave regularly for 
Ellen ville and bring you there in an hour's time. In 
Ellenville good hotels and boarding houses offer every 
possible comfort to the travelers. 

Ellenville is reached directly over the Ontario and 
Western Railroad, stations in New York City at foot 
of West Forty-second Street and Cortlandt Street. 
Four through trains run each way daily. Fare, $2.04. 
Connection is also made by the Port jervis and Kings- 
ton Division of the ( )ntario and Western Railroad at 
Port Jervis, and with the New York Central, West 
Shore and Ulster and Delaware and with the Hudson 
River boats at Kingston. 



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